Today’s class is from Alicia Bonterre, a photographer who makes her home in Trinidad.
This was the assignment:
Running Shoes are one of the staples of sports and fitness… and come in all colors and sizes.
Distance runners, joggers, sprinters, hobbyists and kids all have shoes designed for their specialties.
Our job is to shoot a pair of running shoes… And do it with some flair.
The brief:
We have to see the side of one of the shoes, and we must see the bottom of the shoe. Tread is important in running shoes, and it is darned hard to photograph.
This can be done as a studio shot indoors, or a ‘studio’ shot outdoors… in a controlled location environment.
Lighting:
Think soft ambient light with direction. Remember that it will take something a bit punchy to show us the tread of the shoe, as well. I would think sun/diffuser/mirror possibly?
You will have to be very aware of the shape of the shoe from the side… and how you decide to show the side and bottom are up to you, but you will most likely have to prop the shoes up with small cards or shims.
This picture was my inspiration and guide. I wanted to see how close to replicating it I could get.
I used two strobes.
I crossed the light so one hits the left side of the shoe to show the texture of the bottom, I used barndoors and a honeycomb grid here to keep it hard and focused, a softbox on the right was aimed in such a way as to skim across the side to show dimension and form. Shot at f11 to be sure all is sharp and in focus. The weight and stick holding the shoe up were later removed in Photoshop and the green background light and swirls added.
Final Shot
Visit Alicia Bonterre’s website.
